Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (26 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian actor. He is generally regarded as one of Italy's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of the country's top directors, in a career spanning 147 films between 1939 and 1996, garnering many international honours including two BAFTA Awards, two Cannes Film Festival Awards for Best Actor, two Volpi Cups, two Golden Globes, and three Academy Award nominations.
Born in Fontana Liri (province of Frosinone, Lazio, IT) and raised in Turin and Rome, Mastroianni made his film debut in 1939 at the age of 14, but did not seriously pursue acting until the 1950s, when he made his critical and commercial breakthrough in the caper comedy Big Deal on Madonna Street (1959). He became an international celebrity through his collaborations with director Federico Fellini, first as a disillusioned tabloid columnist in La Dolce Vita (1960), then as a creatively-stifled filmmaker in 8½ (1963). Excelling in both dramatic and comedic roles, he formed a notable on-screen duo with actress and sex symbol Sophia Loren, co-starring with her in eleven films between 1954 and 1994.
Despite international acclaim, Mastroianni largely shunned Hollywood, and remained a quintessentially Italian thespian for the majority of his career. He was the first actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for a non-English language performance, and was nominated for Best Actor three times – Divorce Italian Style (1961), A Special Day (1977), and Dark Eyes (1987). He was one of only three actors, the others being Jack Lemmon and Dean Stockwell, to win the prestigious Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor twice. Mastroianni's contributions to Italian art and culture saw him receive multiple civil honours, including the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, the highest-ranking knighthood of the country.
Early life
Mastroianni was born in Fontana Liri, a small village in the Apennines within the Lazio province of Frosinone, and grew up in Turin and Rome. He was the son of Ida (née Irolle) and Ottone Mastroianni. Both of his parents were from the nearby town of Arpino. His father ran a carpentry shop. Mastroianni was a nephew of sculptor Umberto Mastroianni. During World War II, after the division into Axis and Allied Italy, he was interned in a loosely guarded German prison camp, from which he escaped to hide in Venice.
His brother Ruggero Mastroianni was a film editor who worked on some of Marcello's films (City of Women, Ginger and Fred), and appeared alongside Marcello in Scipio the African, a spoof of the once popular Sword and Sandal film genre released in 1971.
Acting career
thumb|Mastroianni and [[Anita Ekberg in the Trevi Fountain, Rome, during the shooting of La Dolce Vita (1960)]]
Mastroianni made his screen debut as an uncredited extra in Marionette (1939) when he was fourteen and made intermittent minor film appearances until landing his first big role in Atto d'accusa (1951). Within a decade he became a major international celebrity, starring in Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958) and in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960), playing a disillusioned and self-loathing tabloid columnist who spends his days and nights exploring Rome's decadent high society. Mastroianni followed La Dolce Vita with Fellini's 8½ (1963), in which he created another signature role, that of a film director who, amidst self-doubt and troubled love affairs, finds himself in a creative block while making a film.
His other prominent films include Days of Love (1954) with Marina Vlady; La Notte (1961) with Jeanne Moreau; Too Bad She's Bad (1954), Lucky to Be a Woman (1956), Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963), Marriage Italian Style (1964), Sunflower (1970), The Priest's Wife (1971), A Special Day (1977) and Robert Altman's Prêt-à-Porter (1994) – all co-starring Sophia Loren; Luchino Visconti's White Nights (1957); Pietro Germi's Divorce Italian Style (1961); Family Diary (1962) with Jacques Perrin; A Very Private Affair (1962) with Brigitte Bardot; Mario Monicelli's Casanova 70 (1965); Diamonds for Breakfast (1968) with Rita Tushingham; The Pizza Triangle (1970) with Monica Vitti; Massacre in Rome (1973) with Richard Burton; The Sunday Woman (1975) with Jacqueline Bisset; Stay As You Are (1978) with Nastassja Kinski; Fellini's City of Women (1980) and Ginger and Fred (1986); Marco Bellocchio's Henry IV (1984); Macaroni (1985) with Jack Lemmon; Nikita Mikhalkov's Dark Eyes (1987) with Marthe Keller; Giuseppe Tornatore's Everybody's Fine (1990); Used People (1992) with Shirley MacLaine; and Agnès Varda's One Hundred and One Nights (1995).
He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: for Divorce Italian Style, A Special Day and Dark Eyes. Mastroianni, Dean Stockwell and Jack Lemmon are the only actors to have been twice awarded the Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. Mastroianni won it in 1970 for The Pizza Triangle and in 1987 for Dark Eyes.
Mastroianni starred alongside his daughter, Chiara Mastroianni, in Raúl Ruiz's Three Lives and Only One Death in 1996. For this performance he won the Silver Wave Award at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival. His final film, Voyage to the Beginning of the World (1997), was released posthumously.
Personal life
Mastroianni married Flora Carabella on 12 August 1950. They had one daughter together, Barbara (1951–2018), and informally separated in 1964 because of his affairs with younger women. Mastroianni's first serious relationship after the separation was with Faye Dunaway, his co-star in A Place for Lovers (1968). Dunaway wanted to marry and have children, but Mastroianni, a Catholic, refused to divorce Carabella. In her 1995 autobiography Looking for Gatsby, Dunaway wrote: "I wish to this day it had worked out." In the 2024 documentary Faye, she described him as the love of her life.
After the break up with Dunaway, Mastroianni began a relationship with French actress Catherine Deneuve, who was nearly 20 years his junior. They lived together for four years during the 1970s and had a daughter, Chiara Mastroianni (born 28 May 1972). During their time together the couple made four films: It Only Happens to Others (1971), La cagna (1972), A Slightly Pregnant Man (1973) and Don't Touch the White Woman! (1974). After Mastroianni and Deneuve broke up, his estranged wife Carabella reportedly offered to adopt Chiara because her parents' busy careers kept them away from her so often. Deneuve adamantly refused.
Mastroianni's other lovers reportedly included actresses Anouk Aimée, Carole Mallory, Claudia Cardinale, Lauren Hutton and Ursula Andress.
Death
thumb|Mastroianni in 1991
Mastroianni died of pancreatic cancer on 19 December 1996 at the age of 72. Both of his daughters, as well as Deneuve and Tatò, were at his bedside. A funeral was held at the Church of St. Sulpice in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris 20 December 1996 before his remains were transferred to Rome where a second ceremony took place at the city hall on 22 December before he was interred in his family vault in Verano Cemetery.
At the 1997 Venice Film Festival, Chiara, Carabella, and Deneuve tried to block the screening of Tatò's four-hour documentary, Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember. The festival refused and the film was shown.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Role
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1939
| Marionette
| rowspan="3" | Extra
| Uncredited
|-
| 1942
| Love Story
|
|-
| 1944
| The Children Are Watching Us
| rowspan="2" | Uncredited
|-
| 1948
| Les Misérables
| rowspan="3" | Bit part
|-
| rowspan="2" |1949
| Vertigine d'amore
|
|-
| Twenty Years
|
|-
| rowspan="5" |1950
| Sunday in August
| Ercole Nardi
|
|-
| Against the Law
| Marcello Curti
|
|-
| A Dog's Life
| Carlo Danesi
|
|-
| The Accusation
| Renato La Torre
|
|-
| Hearts at Sea
| Massimo Falchetti
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1951
| A Tale of Five Cities
| Aldo Mazzetti
|
|-
|Last Meeting
|Michele Bonesi (voice)
|Dubbed Jean-Pierre Aumont
|-
| Paris Is Always Paris
| Marcello Venturi
|
|-
| rowspan="7" |1952
| Three Girls from Rome
| Marcello Sartori
|
|-
| The Eternal Chain
| Walter Ronchi
|
|-
| Tragic Return
| Marco
|
|-
| Barefoot Savage
| Carlo Santori
|
|-
| Black Feathers
| Pietro Cossuti
|
|-
| Sunday Heroes
| Carlo Vagnetti
|
|-
| The Mute of Portici
| Extra
| Uncredited
|-
| rowspan="5" |1953
| Lulù
| Soletti
|
|-
| Il viale della speranza
| Mario
|
|-
| It's Never Too Late
| Riccardo
|
|-
| Eager to Live
| Daniele Massa
|
|-
| La valigia dei sogni
|
|
|-
| rowspan="7" |1954
| Chronicle of Poor Lovers
| Ugo
|
|-
| A Slice of Life
| Maria's husband
| Segment: "Il pupo"
|-
| Schiava del peccato
| Giulio Franchi
|
|-
| Days of Love
| Pasquale Droppio
|
|-
| Casa Ricordi
| Gaetano Donizetti
|
|-
| Too Bad She's Bad
| Paolo
|
|-
| The Island Princess
| Hernán
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1955
| Tom Toms of Mayumba
| Alessandrini
|
|-
| The Miller's Beautiful Wife
| Luca
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1956
| Lucky to Be a Woman
| Corrado Betti
|
|-
| The Bigamist
| Mario De Santis
|
|-
| rowspan="5" |1957
| Fathers and Sons
| Cesare
|
|-
| Sand, Love and Salt
| Piero
|
|-
| The Most Wonderful Moment
| Pietro Valeri
|
|-
| White Nights
| Mario
|
|-
| Doctor and the Healer
| Dr. Francesco Marchetti
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |1958
| Piece of the Sky
| Severino Balestra
|
|-
| Big Deal on Madonna Street
| Tiberio
|
|-
| Girls for the Summer
| Marcello Mazzoni
|
|-
| Love and Troubles
| Franco
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |1959
| The Law
| Enrico Tosso
|
|-
| My Wife's Enemy
| Marco Tornabuoni
|
|-
| Everyone's in Love
| Giovanni
|
|-
| Ferdinando I, re di Napoli
| Gennarino
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1960
| La Dolce Vita
| Marcello Rubini
|
|-
| Il bell'Antonio
| Antonio Magnano
|
|-
| Adua and Friends
| Piero Salvagni
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |1961
| La notte
| Giovanni Pontano
|
|-
| The Assassin
| Alfredo Martelli
|
|-
| Ghosts of Rome
| Reginaldo di Roviano / Federico di Roviano / Gino
|
|-
| Divorce, Italian Style
| Ferdinando "Fefè" Cefalù
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1962
| A Very Private Affair
| Fabio Rinaldi
|
|-
| Family Diary
| Enrico
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1963
| 8½
| Guido Anselmi
|
|-
| The Organizer
| Prof. Sinigaglia
|
|-
| Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
| Carmine Sbaratti
|
|-
| 1964
| Marriage Italian-Style
| Domenico Soriano
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1965
| Casanova 70
| Major Colombetti
|
|-
| The 10th Victim
| Marcello Poletti
|
|-
| The Man, the Woman and the Money
| Mario / Michele Profili / Mario Gasparri
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1966
| Me, Me, Me... and the Others
| Peppino Marassi
|
|-
| Shoot Loud, Louder... I Don't Understand
| Alberto Saporito
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1967
| The Stranger
| Arthur Meursault
|
|-
| Ghosts – Italian Style
| The Ghost
| Uncredited
|-
| rowspan="3" |1968
| Break Up
| Mario Fuggetta
|
|-
| A Place for Lovers
| Valerio
|
|-
| Diamonds for Breakfast
| Grand Duke Nikolay Vladimirovich Godunov
|
|-
| rowspan="5" |1970
| The Pizza Triangle
| Oreste Nardi
|
|-
| Sunflower
| Antonio
|
|-
| Leo the Last
| Leo
|
|-
| The Voyeur
| Sandro
|
|-
| The Priest's Wife
| Don Mario
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1971
| Scipio the African
| Scipio Africanus
|
|-
| It Only Happens to Others
| Marcello
|
|-
| My Name Is Rocco Papaleo
| Rocco Papaleo
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1972
| Liza
| Giorgio
|
|-
| What?
| Alex
|
|-
| Roma
| Himself
| Cameo appearance
|-
| rowspan="5" |1973
| Dirty Weekend
| Giulio Borsi
|
|-
| La Grande Bouffe
| Marcello
|
|-
| A Slightly Pregnant Man
| Marco Mazetti
|
|-
| Massacre in Rome
| Father Pietro Antonelli
|
|-
| Hail the Artist
| Nicolas Montei
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1974
| Don't Touch the White Woman!
| George A. Custer
|
|-
| Allonsanfàn
| Fulvio Imbriani
|
|-
| We All Loved Each Other So Much
| Himself
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |1975
| Sex Pot
| Charlie Colletto
|
|-
| Down the Ancient Staircase
| Professor Bonaccorsi
|
|-
| The Divine Nymph
| Michele Barra
|
|-
| The Sunday Woman
| Commissioner Salvatore Santamaria
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1976
| Todo modo
| Don Gaetano
|
|-
| Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen
| Paolo T. Fiume
|
|-
| Lunatics and Lovers
| Marchese Luca Maria
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1977
| A Special Day
| Gabriele
|
|-
| Wifemistress
| Luigi De Angelis
|
|-
| Double Murder
| Bruno Baldassarre
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1978
| Bye Bye Monkey
| Luigi Nocello
|
|-
| Stay As You Are
| Giulio Marengo
|
|-
| Blood Feud
| Rosario Maria Spallone
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1979
| Traffic Jam
| Marco Montefoschi
|
|-
| Neapolitan Mystery
| Raffaele Capece
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1980
| La terrazza
| Luigi
|
|-
| City of Women
| Snàporaz
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1981
| Fantasma d'amore
| Nino Monti
|
|-
| The Skin
| Curzio Malaparte
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1982
| That Night in Varennes
| Casanova, Chevalier de Seingalt
|
|-
| Beyond the Door
| Enrico Sommi
|
|-
| The Last Horror Film
| Himself
| Cameo appearance
|-
| rowspan="3" |1983
| The Story of Piera
| Lorenzo
|
|-
| Gabriela, Cravo e Canela
| Nacib
|
|-
| The General of the Dead Army
| General Ariosto
|
|-
| 1984
| Henry IV
| Henry IV
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1985
| The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal
| Mattia Pascal
|
|-
| Macaroni
| Antonio Jasiello
|
|-
| Big Deal After 20 Years
| Tiberio
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1986
| Ginger and Fred
| Pippo Botticella (Fred)
|
|-
| The Beekeeper
| Spyros
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1987
| Dark Eyes
| Romano
|
|-
| Intervista
| Himself
|
|-
| 1988
| Miss Arizona
| Rozsnyai Sándor
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1989
| Splendor
| Jordan
|
|-
| What Time Is It?
| Marcello
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1990
| Everybody's Fine
| Matteo Scuro
|
|-
| Towards Evening
| Prof. Bruschi
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1991
| The Suspended Step of the Stork
| Missing Politician
|
|-
| The Children Thief
| Bigua
|
|-
| A Fine Romance
| Cesareo Grimaldi
|
|-
| 1992
| Used People
| Joe Meledandri
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1993
| I Don't Want to Talk About It
| Ludovico D'Andrea
|
|-
| 1, 2, 3, Sun
| Constantin Laspada
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1994
| Prêt-à-Porter
| Sergei (Sergio)
|
|-
| The True Life of Antonio H.
| Himself
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1995
| A Hundred and One Nights
| The Italian Friend
|
|-
| According to Pereira
| Pereira
|
|-
| Beyond the Clouds
| The Man of All Vices
|
|-
| 1996
| Three Lives and Only One Death
| Mateo Strano / Georges Vickers / Butler / Luc Allamand
|
|-
| 1997
| Voyage to the Beginning of the World
| Manoel
| Released posthumously
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Role
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1966
| The Poppy Is Also a Flower
| Inspector Mosca
| Made-for-TV movie
|-
| 1971
| Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
|Himself (guest)
|2 episodes
|-
| 1972
| 1870
| Augusto Parenti
|Made-for-TV movie
|-
|1978
|Le mani sporche
|Hoederer
|Miniseries
|-
|1988
|Piazza Navona
|Himself
|6 episodes
|-
| 1994
| A che punto è la notte
|Salvatore Santamaria
| Miniseries
|}
Awards and nominations
thumb|[[Federico Fellini and Mastroianni in 1990]]
Wins
- David di Donatello
- Best Actor
- 1964 Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
- 1965 Marriage Italian Style
- 1986 Ginger and Fred
- 1988 Dark Eyes
- 1995 According to Pereira
- 1983 Carrer David
- 1995 Special David
- 1997 Carrer David <small>(posthumous)</small>
- Nastro d'Argento
- Best Actor
- 1955 Days of Love
- 1958 White Nights
- 1961 La Dolce Vita
- 1962 Divorce Italian Style
- 1986 Ginger and Fred
- 1988 Dark Eyes
- 1991 Towards Evening
- 1997 Special Nastro d'Argento <small>(posthumous)</small>
- Venice Film Festival
- Golden Lion
- 1990 Honorary Award
- Best Actor
- 1989 What Time Is It?
- Best Supporting Actor
- 1993 1, 2, 3, Sun
- Cairo International Film Festival
- Career achievement award
- 1990 Honorary Award
- Cannes Film Festival
- Best Actor
- 1970 The Pizza Triangle
- 1988 Dark Eyes
- BAFTA Award
- Best Foreign Actor
- 1964 Divorce Italian Style
- 1965 Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
- Golden Globe Award
- Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
- 1963 Divorce Italian Style
- César Award
- 1993 Honorary César
Nominations
- Academy Award
- Academy Award for Best Actor
- 1963 Divorce Italian Style
- 1978 A Special Day
- 1988 Dark Eyes
Honours and achievements
Orders
:*50px 3rd Class / Commander: Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 1967
:*50px 2nd Class / Grand Officer: Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 1987
:*50px 1st Class / Knight Grand Cross: Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 1994
See also
- List of actors with Academy Award nominations
- List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
- List of Italian Academy Award winners and nominees
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica, Marcello Mastroianni
- Chris Fujiwara, "Dream lover: Marcello Mastroianni at the MFA"
- Geographical coordinates and pictures of his grave
- Marcello Mastroianni at Filmreference.com